Zappey's Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cumatilis (armchair tick!)

Zappey's Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cumatilis
(Seogwipo, Jeju, South Korea, April 2010)

Zappey's Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cumatilis
(Seogwipo, Jeju, South Korea, April 2010)

Blue-and-white Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cyanomelana for comparison
(Mara-do, Jeju, South Korea, April 2011)

Blue-and-white Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cyanomelana for comparison
(Seogwipo, Jeju, South Korea, April 2009)

 Well it's always fun to get an armchair tick! When I spotted this mostly blue flycatcher in a glorious Seogwipo park a few years ago, it initially had me scratching my head. It was showing a solid blue face and breast, and my mind was racing to something exotic like a Verditer Flycatcher (which is actually much more of a turquoise colour). When it turned around I saw the white breast of a Blue-and-White Flycatcher. It was probably fresh in, as it was uncharacteristically lethargic for a flycatcher. I watched it for a while, and got a few record shots.
  It turns out it was a Blue-and-white Flycatcher of the cumatilis subspecies. It took me a little while and some internet searching to figure this out, as the illustrations of the cumatilis in the Brazil guide show a bird that looks almost identical to the nominate Blue-and-white, with a blackish face and breast.
  The cumatilis has recently been split, and is now known as...drumroll please...Zappey's Flycatcher! Great name, I think. I'll be keeping an eye out for both of these gorgeous flycatchers on Gageo next week. Gageo! Next week!